


"Home?" "Home."

by HeyGoodLookin



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Mileven is the main thing here, Romance, Thank me later, Who needs sleep, basically trying to revive a seemingly starved fandom, i do need sleep but this is more important, shameless reunion fic, sorry - Freeform, the rest of the party's here but they all play minor roles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 00:23:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16252814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyGoodLookin/pseuds/HeyGoodLookin
Summary: Honestly this is a shameless reunion fic.Lots of Mileven.Lots of fluff.You're welcome.





	"Home?" "Home."

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't sleep - wrote this instead.   
> I don't even know what it is but here you go!   
> Let me know what you think! I haven't written much Mileven so apologies if it's not up to standards haha

“Mike.”

“El.”

They embraced so fiercely it almost knocked the wind out of them both, the bulk of El’s weight supported between the blazer and Mike’s arms.

“Okay, okay, give it a rest,” Hopper grumbled, shutting the passenger door as he lit a cigarette.

But neither El nor Mike minded his words. They were two wrapped up in each other. To consumed by the feeling of finally being together; of finally being safe and able to hold each other. And considering Hopper had kept El hidden for so long, Mike wasn’t about to let her go now. Not after everything they had gone through. Not after all the nightmares of her leaving him; of her never coming back. No, Mike was going to hold her until… well, until El made a kind of sound between a sigh and a yawn and sort of slumped in his arms.

“Sorry,” El pulled back ever so slightly and looked up at Mike with red rimmed eyes.

“Don’t be,” Mike whispered back earnestly. “You’re tired. You kind of saved the world.”

“I promised.”

“I know,” Mike smiled, his eyes watering with relief and gratitude. “You’re home now.”

“Home,” El repeated the word, burying her face back into Mike’s chest, though her body seemed heavier than before. Mike realized she was having a harder time supporting her own body weight and was practically relying on him to keep her upright.

“Yeah,” Mike murmured into her slicked back hair. “Home.”

“But now bed,” Hopper’s voice broke through the emotional haze. “Mike needs to get home and you need to rest.”

“Mike stays,” El managed, holding the boy’s hand as Hopper scooped her up and brought her into the considerably warmer house.

“Mike needs to—“

“Stay with El,” Mike finished Hopper’s sentence in a way that left no room for debate. He needed to be there for her.

“Jesus Christ,” Hopper said under his breath, half in reaction to the pair’s dedication and half in reaction to the Byer’s house being quite literally scattered with party members. Every surface that could be sat on and could be slept on, was in use. Lucas and Max on one sofa while Dustin sat tending to Steve’s injuries (what the hell happened to him, Hopper didn’t even _want_ to know) on the floor, and Nancy and Johnathan lay sprawled out on a love seat.

“Well?” Lucas was the first to pipe up, half standing.

“She did it,” Hopper answered firmly. The party erupted in a kind of triumphant _whoop_ , though slightly muted for El’s sake. They didn’t want scare her. But before Hopper went to find El a bed, he glanced over at Johnathan. “Where’s Joy? I mean—“ he cleared his throat nervously. “Where’s your mom?”

“In my room with Will,” Johnathan replied softly.

“How’s the kid?”

“Sleeping,” Johnathan answered simply, though a faint, all be it tired, smile was present. “But he made it.”

“Thank God,” Hopper breathed a sigh of relief. “The kid’s staying,” he looked over at Nancy. “Tell your parents…”

“I’ll tell them he was at Will’s overnight, but honestly I don’t even think they’ll notice,” Nancy said, voice laced with a thin layer of bitterness. Something Hopper didn’t fail to notice and file away into the back of his mind.

“Also,” Dustin’s upbeat voice cut through the texture, “if you want a beer, I put them all a sink of ice water ‘cause there’s a Demodog in the fridge. Oh, and Steve’s okay, Max’s asshole brother just beat him up a little bit but he put up a good fight.”

“Jesus Christ,” Hopper cursed for the second time that evening. He was about to continue when El’s stirring in his arms brought him back to the task at hand.

Not failing to notice, Johnathan looked up at the chief. “Will’s room is empty and so is my mom’s.”

“We’ll use Will’s,” Hopper said, voice thick with fatigue. “Your mom is gonna need all the rest she can get.”

“Down the hall and two door to the left,” the older teen replied, practically falling asleep as he spoke.

“Thanks Johnathan,” the chief moved as carefully as he could with El in his arms. Mike’s hand was still firmly clasped in her own and Hopper hadn’t failed to realize that neither had said a word in the living room. They were to engrossed in each other; as if having their own conversation without needing to utter a word.

Slowly, Hopper lowered the girl onto Will’s double bed.

El gave the chief a kind of look that didn’t need clarification. He exited the room with a kind of defeated grunt but left the door ajar.

“Home,” El repeated the word with a small, bright smile. Her skin was sickly pale and her makeup had smudged to the point of looking more like Alice Cooper than punk rock.

But Mike thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. “Beautiful,” Mike breathed while kneeling beside the bed so that their faced were at the same level.

El’s smile widened, causing Mike’s heart to beat at a pace so rapid, is felt like he was going to pass out. “Missed you so much,” El confessed in a quiet voice, scooting closer to Mike, so that her body was practically at the edge of the bed.

“God,” Mike felt his throat close painfully as his eyes filled with tears. “I missed you too El. So much. I—I kept dreaming you were gone but—“ he took a deep, shuddering breath. “I k-knew, I just _knew_ you were out there somewhere. I didn’t give up on you, El. Not for one day. Not ever.”

El took in Mike’s words and blinked rapidly, tears escaping her eyes. “I didn’t either,” El sniffed and winced ever so slightly as she cried. “I didn’t give up on you either.”

Mike gave her a watery smile in response but started when he noticed her flinching. “What’s wrong?” he held out the hand that wasn’t holding one of hers, as if ready to fix whatever she needed.

“Eyes,” El blinked again, “stinging.”

“Oh… _oh,”_ Mike realized, kicking himself mentally. “It’s your makeup, I think. It’s making your eyes sting. Hold on one second, El. I’ll be right back.”

El stared up at Mike as he stood up.

“Right back,” he repeated firmly. “Promise.”

El nervously fiddled with the rocket ship print comforter beneath her as she waited. She knew Mike would be back soon, but that didn’t help ease the empty feeling she felt in that moment.

Mike headed to the washroom as quickly as he could and found where Mrs. Byers kept the extra towels and wet one of the hand towels until it was damp. Satisfied with his work, he crept back to the hall where Hopper and Joyce stood, talking in low voices. Hopper stopped for a moment and looked down at Mike as he passed.

“She’s fine,” the boy replied, glancing up at the chief, trying to keep his lingering anger at bay. “Her eyes are stinging so I’m helping her get cleaned up.”

Hopper stared down at the teenager as Joyce smiled. “Thanks kid,” he said (all be it temporarily) shutting down his air of authority. He’s gonna be around for keeps, Hopper realized as he watched Mike head back to Will’s room. Hopper understood in that moment that Mike didn’t just _like_ El. He was dedicated to her. In a way that most adults didn’t even understand. And even though the idea of El having a teenage boy in her life made him scared beyond all reason, a part of him was happy for her. If Mike made her happy, he was happy.

“The door,” Hopper added as Mike was about to close the door behind himself. “Ajar, please and thank you.”

And although Hopper could practically _feel_ Mike role his eyes, he watched as the door stopped so that about ten centimetres of space remained.

“Hey,” Mike was at El’s side in an instant. “I got you something so you can get cleaned up.”

“For my eyes?”

“Yeah,” Mike held up the damp towel. “So they won’t sting anymore.”

“Okay,” El replied, voice small and tired. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Mike said, holding the towel up to her face. “Here, let me.”

Slowly and oh-so-gently, Mike wiped away the grime and makeup from El’s face. With such fragility and care it almost made her cry all over again. Sometimes it stunned El that a person could be as good and as gentle as Mike. And that such a person could possibly want to be with her. That a person that cared as much as he did had waited for her.

“Hey,” Mike noticed El’s emotional state and rested a shaking hand on her shoulder. “You’re safe.”

“It’s not that,” El paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. “It’s you. You’re so good to me.”

“Oh,” Mike said dumbly, still stunned by the fact that El had learned to express herself so well. Maybe he was still mad at Hopper, but a part of him was beginning to understand him. Maybe even be grateful. “It’s ‘cause I care, El.”

“About me?”

“Of course, about you. You’re amazing, El. And so—“ Mike blushed fiercely as he carefully wiped the last of El’s face clean. “Beautiful.”

“Beautiful,” El repeated, putting a hand overtop the one that Mike held at her face.

Mike’s breath hitched at the contact. “Yeah, it’s means like, more than pretty.”

“I know,” El sighed happily. “Heard it on TV.”

“Cool.”

“And on Hopper’s music maker.”

Mike smiled at her choice of words. “You mean, record player. Hopper has a turntable.”

“Yes,” El nodded, shifting so there was more space between them. “I like Dolly.”

“Huh?”

“Big,” El gestured to her hair. “Lots of makeup.”

“Oh!” Mike practically laughed in realization. “Dolly Parton!”

“You don’t like her?” El frowned ever so slightly.

Mike noticed this and leaned forward onto the bed so he could grasp her hand again. “Not really,” he said carefully. “I don’t really like country music. But that’s okay! It’s okay to like different things.”

“Different but still okay?”

“More than okay,” Mike’s heartbeat increased as he watched El scoot even further away from him. Before he thought it was out of need for space, but the more she did it the more he understood that it wasn’t so much that she was needing room, but that she was making space. For him.

“Mike,” El looked at him earnestly. “You can’t sleep on the floor.”

“I mean, I—“

“Mike,” El stared at the boy, not meaning to interrupt him. “Stay with me.”

And when El looked at him as if he were the only person in the entire world, all fear of Hopper dissipated. El needed him and that was all that mattered.

“Of course,” Mike managed, voice hardly above a whisper. Carefully, he lifted himself up onto the bed and situated himself beside El. He felt her shift her weight slightly so she was laying on her side facing him, so Mike did the same, effectively mirroring her. Their legs bumped and broke apart in awkward shock before finding each other again.

Mike hesitantly put on arm around El as she folded herself into his embrace. She felt warm and secure. Safe in his arms as his one free hand came to find hers between them.

There was a moment, as if suspended in mid air, when they both felt themselves gravitate towards each other. When the space between became less and less until their lips connected and acted as a sort of assurance. Yes, they’d survived. Yes, they were safe. And yes, they were finally together again. They broke apart after a second and flushed matching shades of pink before settling against the pillows.

They fell asleep moments later. They were both smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank y'all!   
> Comment away :) Comments make me real happy :) :)


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